THE CASE OF THE GILDED FLY

This is not, as the publisher claims, the first publication of The Case of the Gilded Fly in the U.S. It was published in 1945 (Lippincott) under the ungainly title, Obsequies at Oxford. But, in any case, it is a pleasure to have Edmund Crispin's first case for Oxford professor Gervase Fen back in print--especially since Crispin died soon after the U.S. publication of last year's The Glimpses of the Moon, which gave Gervase Fen a jovial comeback after 25 years in retirement. The Case of the Gilded Fly is one of the best Fen investigations, rich in droll Oxford atmosphere and the backstage intrigues of a theatrical troupe. A welcome reprint--as will be those of the other Crispin mysteries promised by Walker & Co.